在十六国北朝时期,民族边界与宗教信仰之间存在着密切而复杂的互动关系。自东汉传入中国的佛教因被认为是“夷狄之术”而长期受到儒家及道教的激烈批评及抵制。十六国时期却因“佛为戎神”而得到各个内迁民族所建政权,如后赵及前秦、后秦等的扶持与尊崇。但是到北魏、北周时期,同属内迁民族的北魏太武帝和周武帝又掀起了两次激烈的反佛运动。无论是儒家和道教的批评与抵制还是内迁民族的尊崇或排斥,尽管其中的原因非常复杂,但原因之一就是佛为“胡神”。佛教与“胡”或“戎狄”等这一指代某种民族或族群的称谓紧密联系在一起,佛教因此也成为构筑民族边界的一种工具。被尊崇或排斥双方反复利用的“夷夏之辨”具有“夷夏”之间可以互相转化的开放性特征,又引起民族边界的不断变化,佛教也在这种变化中得到了充分的发展。隋唐之后,实现了三教合一,佛教作为民族边界的标识意义丧失。 In the period of the 16 countries and the Northern Dynasties, there was a close and complicated interaction between national boundaries and religious beliefs. Buddhism introduced into China from the Eastern Han Dynasty has long been subjected to fierce criticism and boycott by Confucianism and Taoism because it is considered to be “the technique of the barbarians.” During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, however, the regimes built by various immigrants, such as Zhao and the former Qin and Later Qin, were supported and respected by the “Buddha as a god of justice.” However, during the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, the Northern Wei Dynasty emperor Wu and Zhou Wudi, both in-house immigrants, set off two fierce anti-Buddhism campaigns. Whether it is Confucianism or Taoism’s criticism and boycott, or the reverence or exclusion of immigrant nationalities, one of the reasons for this is that the reason for this is very complex, but the Buddha is “Hu Shen”. Buddhism is closely linked with appellations such as “Hu” or “Rong Di”, which refer to certain ethnic groups or ethnic groups. Therefore, Buddhism has also become a tool for building national boundaries. The openness that can be transformed from one to the other, which is respected or excluded repeatedly by both parties, can also be transformed from one nation to another. Buddhism has also gained such a change Full development. After Sui and Tang dynasties, the realization of the unity of the three religions and the loss of the significance of the identity of Buddhism as a national boundary were lost.